1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates to speaker devices, to speaker panels for speaker devices, to mechanical assemblies and mountings for speaker devices, to uses of speaker devices for example as products or as components for products, and to computer program products operable to control speaker devices.
2. Technical Background
Smart Devices continue to integrate more functionality. This places limitations on the device's speaker size and therefore performance. The fundamental rule in audio is you need to move air in order to create sound: the more air you move the louder the sound is—air movement is proportional to power and speaker size. Speaker size is proportional as well to frequency response: the larger the speaker the lower the frequencies it can produce, all of which are constrained in smart devices, which are typically somewhat small so they are portable.
Consumers want to be able to listen and enjoy music wherever they are. Bluetooth speakers serve this need but are not ideal as a separate or bulky speaker is yet another thing to carry around with you and therefore in many instances they are just not there when you need them.
Consumers actively access, store and listen to music on their mobile devices, they want to be able to listen and enjoy their music whenever and wherever they are. Today this is mainly done through headphones making it a solitary experience. Although many devices have built-in speakers, consumers often do not like to listen to music on their mobile device speakers as the low volume and poor quality of the speakers reduce the listening pleasure: consequently there has been a huge growth in the demand for mobile speaker systems. Consumers want to share their music listening experience and do not want to have to wear headphones all the time to get good quality sound: this need has driven the wireless speaker market. The solutions on offer are often bulky and because they are separate devices that a user does not typically carry with them when on a day-to-day basis. Hence when an opportunity arises to listen to music they do not have the speaker available and cannot use it. A further problem is that portable speakers may be damaged when not in use. It is desirable to protect portable speakers when they are not in use.
3. Discussion of Related Art
A problem with using the phone housing as the speaker is that phone housings need to be rigid in order to be robust and durable. This makes them hard to move in the context of producing sound. A calculation indicates that 0.3 kW to 10 kW of power is required to make a phone case produce loud sounds. A mobile phone battery can provide around 16 watts. A typical tablet battery can provide around 30 watts, which is not suitable. Therefore mobile phone batteries and tablet batteries and other portable electronic products batteries are not suitable to drive device cases as speakers to make loud sounds.